S.F. fees for Google buses may be driven up

Published 7:16 pm, Friday, July 11, 2014

It wasn't the puking protesters and the blocked buses that brought this on, but the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board on Tuesday will consider tripling per-stop fees for corporate shuttles that have collectively become known as "the Google bus" to use Muni bus stops.

The MTA staff is recommending that fees rise from $1 per stop to $3.55 per stop because applications for the program revealed that the sleek, mostly unmarked shuttle buses were making about 1,700 fewer stops than anticipated.

Program manager Carli Paine said 11 shuttle operators, some with multiple clients, have signed up to participate in the program, which begins Aug. 1.

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She also said the agency has boosted enforcement, realizing that it's key to the success of the program. Platoons of 10 parking control officers will be dedicated to policing the approximately 130 shared Muni stops, all of them trained and empowered to enforce the new shuttle policy.

Agency officials are sticking by their story that state law limits them to charging only enough to cover the cost of the program. But because the buses are making fewer stops, it means their operators have to pay more per stop to cover the $3.7 million cost.

The board meets at 2 p.m. Tuesday, and protesters are sure to show up.